Not Quite So New in Kansas
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Duane L. Herrmann, Not Quite So New in Kansas, bahai-library.com.
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Not Quite So New in Kansas
Duane L. Herrmann

Our Way With Words

20041

Everyone knows that there are Jews, Muslims and Buddhists in Kansas and others outside the
Christian tradition, but there is one religious community in our state, which is nearly unknown. That
community has been in Kansas for over a century, grown from one small locality to now be spread
across the state. It has quietly gone about its practices and attracted little attention. One would think
it would not be possible for a statewide organization to be relatively unknown after a century, but it
is true.

This is the community of the Bahá'í Faith. When people first hear the word “Bahá'í " (which
rhymes with Hawaii) they think it is something new, but the Bahá'í Faith is not new to Kansas.

Interestingly enough, the Kansas Bahá'í community is the second oldest Bahá'í community west
of Egypt. Before there were any Bahá'í communities in Europe, most of Africa or all of South
America, there was a Bahá'í community in Kansas. We were second (the first was Chicago).

Barbara Ehrsam of Enterprise, Kansas invited the Bahá'í teacher in Chicago to spend the summer
at her home. He and some of his family came the summer of 1897. He gave classes which resulted
in "a small group of believers" after he left, thus the Kansas Bahá'í community was born.
Interestingly newspapers all across north-east Kansas carried some mention of those classes in
1897. Most of the believers in Enterprise eventually moved to other cities or other interests but one
moved with her family to Topeka in 1906 and the Topeka Bahá'í community has been continuous
since that time.

Originally published in Our Way With Words, published by Kansas Authors Club to mark the
centennial of the organization, on pp. 23-35.
Barbara Ehrsam was a Swiss immigrant to this country and married men who were both also
Swiss immigrants. Her family settled near Valley Falls. Her first husband, Joseph Hilty, was killed
in an accident after his service in the Civil War. She and her brother then moved further west to
where their sister and her husband had settled on the Smoky Hill River and founded the town of
Enterprise. There she married Jacob Ehrsam the mechanic who had helped build her brother-inlaw’s mill on the river. Jacob then founded a machine company that operated for a hundred years.

After her children were grown, Barbara was searching for a deeper meaning in life. She, as well
as her sister, had the fanciest house in town and the social status of their economic position, but she
sought a deeper meaning in life. In this search she investigated many different points of view. The
Bahá'í message was one that attracted her interest. Basically, the Bahá'í faith says that there is one
Creator of the universe and one human race. God has educated the human race through special
messengers who have come at different times. Separate religions have developed from the messages
they have brought. The time has now come for the human race to acknowledge the validity of all
these messengers and their messages, and stop fighting each other. Peace is the next stage of human
development and some guidelines and decision making tools are offered to achieve that goal.

Bahá'ís believe the latest Messenger from God is Bahá'u'lláh, the Glory of God. He was a Persian
nobleman of the nineteenth century who was imprisoned for forty years for teaching that the Qur’án
is not the last word of God, that women are equal to men, etc. Bahá'ís are to pray and study the
word of God every day and improve the society in which they live. Backbiting and gossip are
serious spiritual offences. Families are the foundation of society and farming is the most important
occupation. Any work performed in a spirit of service, is considered to be worship. The life of a
Bahá'í is to be one of continuous worship. These are high goals, but without goals nothing can be
achieved, and it is the effort towards them that is most important.

Bahá'ís practice what they preach, though they don't actually preach. There is no clergy in the
Bahá'í Faith, so there is no preaching. Bahá'í worship is not liturgical and consists of reading from
the scriptures of the world's religions and prayer. Meditation and singing are included to the extent
which each local community desires. Funds are not solicited at worship services and it is forbidden
to accept money for Bahá'í purposes from those who are not Bahá'ís.

All members of the Bahá'í community participate to the extent each wishes to. Women are not
restricted or limited to any certain roles. Diversity is encouraged to such an extent that, if an
election for a position is tied by a minority and someone else, the minority automatically wins. All
elections are democratically conducted with no campaigning or nominating. Voting is an act of
prayer in the individual's heart. Service to the community is an act of worship.

Kansans from all backgrounds have found the Bahá'í message to be an inspiring and encouraging
one. Kansas Bahá'ís have been farmers as well as urban residents. They have been college
professors, skilled laborers or held other occupations. They have come from every religion
represented in Kansas and nearly every culture and ethnicity.

In the century since its beginnings in 1897, the Bahá'í community of Kansas has grown to every
corner of the state. In addition to Enterprise and Topeka, other Bahá'ís, in the early years, lived in
Kansas City (1898) and Wichita (1902). These were years when the American Bahá'í community
was beginning to grow and become organized. Real growth in Kansas came in the latter half of the
twentieth century. Today there are local Bahá'í communities in about 100 cities all across Kansas.

Bahá'í communities are administered by councils of nine members, on the local, national, and
international levels. At the local and national level these are called "Spiritual Assemblies." The first
efforts at administrative organization in Kansas took place in Topeka in 1920. It was not until 1935
that the first Spiritual Assembly there was formed. Other Spiritual Assemblies were gradually
organized in other Kansas cities: Wichita- 1955, Kansas City -1958, Lawrence 1964, Salina 1968,
etc.

Starting a religious community poses challenges other than simply getting organized. Laws
needed to be changed so the religious community could function. The first Bahá'í wedding was
performed in Kansas in 1950, but it had no legal validity, a civil marriage was also required. This
situation continued until 1968 when the Kansas statutes were amended to recognize Bahá'í
marriage.

One reason the Bahá'í community may not have a high profile in Kansas is a lack of buildings.
Bahá'ís have preferred to spend their money helping those in greater need instead of having
buildings for themselves. So, they generally meet in homes or other places from time to time.
Money from Bahá'ís in Kansas has gone to all parts of the world to build schools, medical clinics,
agricultural projects and educational radio stations, just to name a few. There is a Bahá'í center, a
multi-purpose facility, in Wichita. It was opened in 2002, a century after the first Bahá'ís had lived
in Wichita.
Local Bahá'í communities have engaged in a wide range of service activities to benefit the larger
society. These have included highway trash pick-up, child mentoring, ESL classes, medical
assistance, serving meals or simply offering strangers cold water on a hot day.

In 1997 the Bahá'ís of Kansas came to Enterprise to celebrate their centennial birthday. For that
day, the population of Enterprise increased by one third. The celebration included a parade, a brief
historical sketch, dramatic skits, historic tours and an art exhibit. Bahá'ís from as far away as Florida
and New York attended. Two special guests were Kansas Bahá'ís who had also been former
members of the international Bahá'í council at the Bahá'í World Center in Haifa, Israel. One was a
native Kansan, born near Winfield, the other had been a professor at the KU Medical Center.

To have two of the nine members of the international council being from Kansas is a distinction
indeed! Kansas Bahá'ís have also distinguished themselves in literary and artistic pursuits, in
personally assisting in medical and educational projects in different parts of the world, and directly
helping local Bahá'í communities in other nations.

Kansas has a rich history of alternative religious communities. Most of these have not lasted past
the life of their founder. For the Bahá'í community to not only survive, but flourish, is a noteworthy
accomplishment. And, that Kansas Bahá'ís have had an influence on the international Bahá'í
community, up to the highest levels, is laudatory. For over a century, Bahá'ís have brought honor to
the state of Kansas, yet the state of Kansas has remained largely unaware. Perhaps this account will
help to enlighten and inform those who may have heard of the Bahá'í Faith and wondered what
Bahá'ís are doing in Kansas
-- Not Quite So New in Kansas (Used by permission of the curator)